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  • THURSDAY JUNE 30 2005 6:00 AM

Terrorism in Thailand

Submitted by Michael_J_Totten

Edited by Michael_J_Totten

Most Westerners have no idea, but Thailand has a serious problem with terrorism. US media rarely bothers to mention it, but stories like this one occasionally dribble in.

Suspected Muslim insurgents shot and then beheaded a local official in southern Thailand on Wednesday in an attack believed to be part of ongoing sectarian violence in the area, police said.

Surin Somchit, an employee of the community water authority, was shot and wounded by four bullets fired near his office in Narathiwat province's Rangae district, police Capt. Songphol Juimanee said.

The as yet unknown number of attackers then cut off their victim's head with a machete and dumped it by the roadside, he said.

According to witnesses, Surin was supervising more than 10 workers laying a water pipe in a rubber plantation, when two gunman arrived on motorcycle and shouted at them in Yawi _ a dialect of Malay spoken mainly by local Muslims _ to run for their lives before they opened fire.

"It seems that the attackers targeted him as a Buddhist, that's why they shout in Yawi," Songphol said. Buddhist Thais generally do not speak much Yawi.

Songphol said police suspect the attackers were Islamic insurgents who are seeking to separate the Muslim-dominated south from the rest of Thailand.

[…]

Drive-by shootings and bombings have become near daily occurrences in the three southernmost provinces.


More than 600 people have been killed in Thailand since January 2004 by terrorists and in clashes with terrorists.

(Hat tip: Winds of Change.)

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Comments
dem_z

dem_z

United Kingdom
June 2004

JUN 30, 2005 09:10 AM

Michael_J_Totten said:
Most Westerners have no idea, but Thailand has a serious problem with terrorism.


Hasn't Thai corruption made Thailand a safe place for terrorists for very many years? I thought the Tamil Tigers were operating out of Thailand for the past twenty years without anyone doing much about it.

maybe unreliable source

Jane's Intelligence Review said in May 2002 that despite the ceasefire declared in February in northern Sri Lanka, regional intelligence sources believe the LTTE is continuing to re-supply the Tigers' guerrilla army.

"While Cambodia is the hub of the LTTE's East Asia network, Thailand continues to serve as the most important country for trans-shipment of munitions and co-ordination of logistics," it said.

Michael_J_Totten

Michael_J_Totten

Iraq
February 2004

JUN 30, 2005 11:53 AM

demetrius_z said:]
Hasn't Thai corruption made Thailand a safe place for terrorists for very many years? I thought the Tamil Tigers were operating out of Thailand for the past twenty years without anyone doing much about it.


Were they operating out of Thailand? I don't know. Thailand doesn't make the news in the West very often outside the Travel section.

GramNegative

GramNegative

I'm lost
October 2004

JUN 30, 2005 12:07 PM

I think it was the case that heroin (prohibition), not corruption, was used for funding the tamil tigers.

I do remember seeing this last year:

There was widespread condemnation from the world community Wednesdayof the "brutal" and "inhumane" treatment of protesters that ended with 78 young men suffocating in the back of crammed Army trucks in the South.


link

Nothing like brutal and inhumane treatment of prisoners to help a cause...

[Edited on Jun 30, 2005 by GramNegative]

GramNegative

GramNegative

I'm lost
October 2004

JUN 30, 2005 12:16 PM

and this great quote from sean last year: We Kill Buddhists Now Too!

Kudos to you Islamic Fundamentalists, even though you are only a small minority of an otherwise peaceful and friendly religion (Bush said so, in a speech!), you really have covered a lot of ground, killing such a rich tapestry of people from different ethnic backgrounds and religions. Congratulations!



[Edited on Jun 30, 2005 by GramNegative]

unravled

unravled

Portland, OR
August 2003

JUN 30, 2005 12:17 PM

GramNegative said:

Nothing like brutal and inhumane treatment of prisoners to help a cause...



We as Americans wouldn't know anything about that.

TrendSeven

TrendSeven

I'm lost
April 2005

JUN 30, 2005 03:03 PM

I was in Thailand for last summer and all of the terrorism that goes on is in the south and in the outskirts. The big cities, like Bangkok are pretty much left alone.

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